Separator and grinder



M. FEIST SEPARATOR AND GRINDER Filed Dec. 13, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet l g Q. 7 gwuwpto'o M. FEIST SEPARATOR AND GRINDER Filed'Dec. 13, 1922 4 Sheets-:Sheet 2 Dec. 23, 1 24- 1,520,055

NL FEHS1' SEPARATOR AND GRINDEP Filed Dec. 13, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I l I 314mm jif- 7651323.

Dec. 23, 1924- I 1,520,055

M. FEIST SEPARATQR AND I GRINDER Filed Dgc. 13, 1922 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 commodate the apparatus.

Patented Dec. 23, 1924.

warren STATES 1,520,055 PATENT OFFICE.

MICHAEL rnrs'r, or ROWENA, TEXAS.

SEPARATOR AND GRINDER.

Application filed December 13, 1922. Serial 11104606332.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, MiorrAmi Fms'r, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rowena, in the county of Runnels and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separators and Grinders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a machine for grinding grain and has for its object the provision of a compact mechanism whereby grain heads may be threshed and the stems, stalks and other foreign matter easily separated therefrom. a machine in which the threshed grain may be ground to form a meal or may be delivered into a suitable receptacle without grinding as may be desired. One object of the invention is to provide a novel form of screen or separator whereby the grain will be separated from the straw, chaff, and other matter, and a further object of the invention is to provide a novel operating mechanism whereby the parts may be driven easily without requiring a large space to aclVhile the machine may, of course, be successfully used to thresh and grind various kinds of grain, it is intended more particularly for use in these climates where corn cannot be successfully grown and where sorghums of various kinds are used for feed. The various stated objects of the invention, and other objects which will incidentally appear in the course of the following description, are attained in such an apparatus as is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation, with parts broken away and parts in section, of an apparatus embodying my present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation with parts broken away and parts in section;

Fig. 3 is a plan view; 1

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail elevation of a portion of the operating mechanism;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the screen;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal section of a portion of the screen;

Fig. 7 is an elevation of one of the threshing disks;

Figs. 8 and 9 are details of the members for adjusting the threshing disk.

The invention also seeks to provide- Theframe 1 maybe of wood or of metal and of proper form and dimensions to firmly support all the working parts. At about the center of the frame in the upper portion thereof and extending longitudinally thereof is a-trough-like plate or shell 2 which is without crushing the grain. The disk 7 is secured rigidly to the supporting frame and is free of the main shaft, but the disk 8 is fixed to the shaft by a set screw 9 passing through the hub of the disk to engage the main shaft in an obvious manner. The grain may be delivered to the spiral feeder 6' by hand through the open top of the supporting frame, but I prefer to provide a conveyer 10 and a hopper 11, the hopper being supported on the rear side of the frame and the conveyer being of an endless belt type passing'through or forming the bottom of' the hopper and havingits upper bight dis-' posed over the feeder 6. A more even distribution of the grain upon the feeder 6 is thereby accomplished.

The main shaft isslidably mounted in its bearings uponv the supporting frame and is held centralized in the frame by springs 12 coiled around the shaft at each end thereof and bearing against the adjacent ends of the frame, one of thesprings bearing at its outer end against the hub of the driving pulley 4:,

while the other spring bears against the hub of a pulley 13 which is secured on the opposite end of the shaft. Should a stone or a tool or other foreign matter pass to thedisks with the grain, the shaft will be permitted to slide endwise and permit the article to drop between the disks and pass out without breaking the disk orany other parts or dog ging the operation of the machine. Fitted about the main shaft adjacent the left-hand end of the frame, is'adisk having a plurality of inclined or wedge-shaped faces 61 on its inner side to bear against and co-operate with similar netting faces 62 on a plate 63 secured rigidly upon the frame concentric withthemainshaft; A locking rack or ratchet 64; is provided at the upper edge of the plate 63 and a pawl 65, mounted on a handle 66 of the disk 60, is adapted to engage said rack and thereby hold the disk in a set position. The pawl is held yieldably to the rack by a spring 67 and the: adjacent spring 12 bears against the outer face of the disk 60, Ifthe said disk 60 be rotated rearwardly, the faces 61 thereon will= ride outwardly on the-faces 62 of the mating-disk and the tension of the adjacent spring 12 will be increased so that the shaft will be shifted 'endwise to the leftand the threshing disk 8 brought closer to the disk-7 while, if the: pawl be released and the cam disk 60 rotated forwardly, the shaft will be shiftedin the opposite direction so asto more wide ly' separate the threshing disks. The threshing disks may thus be easily adjusted while the machine is operating.

Between the disks 7 and 8 and the adjacent end of the frame is. arranged a fan casing 14: and within said casing a fan or blower 15 is secured upon the main shaft. Below the feeder (S'andthe: disks 7 and 8 andat the: side ofthe. said fan casing 14t=is arranged the screen or separator 16 which comprises arframe. or shoe pivotally supportedat its inner end by. links 17pivoted at their upper ends to th'eshoe. and at th'eirlower ends upon: the frame, the outer endof'the shoe being supported 'byvthe rocking arms 18 which depend from a shaft 19 mounteddn suitable bearings upon the end of the frame. The shoe of'the separator or screen has an int perforate bottom 20 which is open at oneend, and a topucorrugatedscreen plate 21 of step formation, shown most clearly in Figs. Stand 6. The said screenplate is provided with perforationsor openings 22 through its vertically disposed portions, while the ime perforate portions are inclined idownwardly and-rearwardly from the upper zedgesi of the said: vertical portions. This construction permits the grain with: the chaifand'dust to readily pass through the openings, while preventingthe passage of the leaves and stems and other large substances and at the same time. will facilitate the passage-of the grain and the matters associated therewith overthescreen inasmuch as the vertical surfaces will not b'e-opposed' to th'etravel. The:

fan casing is so shaped. 'asvtopresentan outlet 23 immediately below the inner endof the shoe of the screen,-'the lower wall of the easing being extended beyond the outlet,- as shown at 24, to extend to a-chute 25 disposed directly over the said chute 25, as shown ,by

the'dotteddines in Fig. 1, and beyond thesaidopen end of the shoe, the side of the chute is constructed with shutters oryalved openings26 which will afford an outlet for the chaff and dustblown from the grain by the fan or blower 15, but will prevent the escape of the grain. A shield 68 is provided on the side of the blower casing and projects over the=endof the shoe to prevent the grain dropping beyond the end of the shoe and, consequently, being lost.

The floor of the chute 25 is inclined downwardly and reawardly and directs the grain into the lower end-of an elevator frame 27 which is secured vertically upon the rear side-of the main supporting frame and in which is an endless bucket or cup. elevator 28'. This elevator 28 takes'up thegrain from thechute 25 and discharges itinto a delivery spout 29. This spout has a branch spout 30 which is arrangedover a hopper 31 provided in theend portion of the main frame andiby which the grain will be directed to the crushingrollers 32. A- valve or damper 33 is fitted in the spout 29 at the entrance to the branch'spout 30 so that the flow of grain may be controlled, as will be readily understood upon reference to Fig. 2. When it is desired to grind the grain into a meal, for instance, for use in feeding poultry, the valve will be raised, as shown in full lines in Fig.- 2, whereupon the grain will be directed into the branch-spout 30 and will be delivered thereby into the hopper 31 whence it will be drawn by the crush ingrollers. Ifthe valve be swung down so as to extend over the entrance to the branch spout, the uncrushed grain will pass out through the delivery end of-the main spout 29 and may be caught in any convenient receptacle or deposited upon another conveyer (not shown) so that 'it'may be carried 'at'onceto a storehouseor to a conveyance for transportation to-a point of-use.

One-ofthe rollers 32 is secured upon and driven directly by the main shaft while the mating roller is'carried by'a countershaft 3 f which is'journa-led in bearings 35-supported upon the main frame, the said bearingsbeing slid-ablymounted and being adjusted toward or from the main shaft by adjusting screws or boits 36:mountedin the main frame, as will be readily understood upon reference to F ig. 3. Motion is imparted; to the countershaftby a gear 3'? sc cured onthe mainshaft'and meshing with a gear 38 secured upon the counter-shaft; the latter gear being of'greaterdiameter than the former gear so that thecountershaft will rotate ata slower speed than the main shaft and a rubbing and crushing action will be had upon the grain by the rollers. A. discharge spout39 leads fromthehopper 31 so-that the grain treated by the rollers 32 may be delivered into a convenient receptacle, as indicated in Fig. 2.

Upon theend of the countershaft 341;,- I provide a crank disk-oreccentric 10 and a link 41 connects this crank disk or eccentric with the outer end of an arm 42 projecting from the rock shaft 19. Consequently, as the countershaft is rotated, the rock shaft 19 will be oscillated and a vibratory shaking motion will be imparted to the screen so that the grain deposited thereon will be caused to feed over the surface of the screen and will be separated from the leaves and stalks which will be gradually fed over the open end of the screen and deposited upon the ground, while the good grain will be caught by the in'iperforate bottom of the shoe and eventually pass over the end of the same into the chute 25.

The elevator 28 is driven by a shaft 43 which carries a roller or drum supporting the upper bight of the elevator and is equipped exteriorly with a pulley or wheel 44, around which and the pulley 13 on the main shaft is trained a belt 45. On the inner end of the shaft 43 is secured a crank arm 46 having a series of openings 47 in any one of which may be pivotally engaged one end of a link 48. The said link 48 extends rearwardly and has its rear end adjustably pivoted in a slot 49 extending longitudinally of a lever or rocking arm 50 which is fulcrumed near its lower end, as at 51. To the said lever above and below the fulcrum thereof are pivoted the pitmen, feeders or pushers 52 which have their free ends engaging a ratchet wheel 53 secured upon the shaft 54 which carries the drum or roller supporting the upper bight of the conveyer 10. It will be readily seen that the rotation of the crank arm 46 will oscillate the lever 50 through the link 48 and that the pushers 52 will be thereby caused tomove simultaneously in opposite directions and each pusher, in one direction of movement, will actuate the ratchet wheel 53, while upon its movement in the opposite direction it will merely ride over the ratchet without imparting movement thereto. Inasmuch, however, as the pushers work alternately or in opposite directions, there will always be one pusher actuating the ratchet wheel and, consequently, the elevating conveyer 10 will be moved continuously. A shifting lever 55 is fulcrumed upon the main frame at any convenient point and is provided at its inner end with hooks 56 through which the pushers 52 operate. When the elevating conveyer 10 is not to be actuated, the lever 55 is rocked so that the hooks 56 will lift the pushers 52 out of the operative relation to the ratchet 53 in an obvious manner. The lower bight of the conveyer 1O iscarried by a roller or drum 69 journaled in boxes 70 slidably mounted in slots 71 in the conveyer frame and adjusted by screws 72 to maintain the tension of the conveyer belt.

The operation of the machine is thought to be obvious from the foregoing descrip-' tion, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and it is to be noted that the machine is compact and easily operated, being readily driven by a small motor so that the operation of threshing the heads and separating the grain from the straw and other matter and the grinding of the grain may be performed in the one machine simultaneously and as a continuous uninterrupted operation.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a main shaft, a threshing mechanism mounted upon the main shaft, a feeder on the main shaft arranged adjacent the threshing mechanism to feed grain thereto, grinding mechanism disposed at the opposite end of the feeder and operated by the main shaft, and means for receiving the grain from the threshing mechanism and delivering it to the grinding mechanism.

2. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a main shaft, a pair of co-operating threshing disks arranged concentric with said shaft, one of the disks beingsecured to the shaft, means on the shaft for positively feeding grain to said disks, a screen disposed below the said disks, and a blower on the main shaft arranged to deliver an air blast below and longitudinally of the screen, the screen being closed to the blast.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MICHAEL FEIST. [n s] 

